


Babysitting

by NerdWhoSaysNi



Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Asgard (Marvel), Avengers Tower, F/M, Gen, New York City, Pepperony - Freeform, SHIELD, Stark Tower, Summer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-21 12:03:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14915036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdWhoSaysNi/pseuds/NerdWhoSaysNi
Summary: When Allie Valentine returns to live with her Aunt Pepper in Stark Tower for the summer, she is met with a surprise assignment, one that she may not be ready to take on. Although she wants to prove herself as a SHIELD agent, she may have to recognize that some assignments are above her. Allie struggles to find balance between her duties to SHIELD and her desire for freedom, but an unlikely voice of reason and support helps guide her through her confusion.





	1. Chapter 1

Note: I originally wrote this story more than six years ago in chapters on Polyvore, then converted it into a short story for Wattpad. Since then, it has been edited, but it remains true to the original in all its immature details. The plot takes place after the Battle for NYC but before Loki and Thor return to Asgard. 

 

After a long morning helping clean up New York, I returned to Stark Tower ready for a nap. I hung my SHIELD ID badge next to the door that led to the more social living levels and made my way to the bar. As I strolled through, a glint of sunlight caught my eye, and I turned quickly. A golden helmet with long, curving horns sat on the counter.

"Hey, Loki," I called out to the air.

I heard a muttered curse to my right, and Loki shimmered into existence at a seat with a glass in front of him. He was wearing a set of handcuffs that allowed him a limited range of motion but kept him well under restraint.

"It's been awhile," I told him sarcastically, hopping onto the bar counter and swinging my legs over to drop to the other side. With practiced fingers, I snatched a bottle of seltzer from Tony's stash under the sink and poured some into a cup.

He didn't reply, but simply glared at the glass. The sunlight coming through the windows made him look paler than usual, and in contrast to his inky hair, he could have been a ghost. Since his arrival in the tower, I hadn't been allowed to get this close to the god. Something about him being too dangerous and unpredictable. Even from across the room, I could tell he was tall, possibly taller than Captain Rogers, but he didn't look as threatening as everyone thought he was.

"Why are you here?" I asked, adding fruit to my drink.

"It seems I am needed to help repair the damage to your city."

"Well, you and your freak army did trash New York," I pointed out. I stirred my finished drink and sipped from the straw. Carrying it to the table, I slid into a chair across the god.

He searched me with calculating green eyes before draining the last of his drink from the glass. "You know who I am, yet I have no memory of us meeting before now," he said.

I smiled and tipped my chair on its back legs, playing with the straw in my drink. "I'm Allie, regular Midgardian mortal."

"Yes, I assumed as much."

I swallowed a sip and tilted my head to the side. "So, if you're here to help with the clean up, why aren't you out there with the rest of them?"

He seemed amused, and his eyes narrowed with his smile. "They must not trust me, do they?"

"Don't see why they should," I retorted.

"You're a clever one, tell me this: if I am called here to assist in rebuilding, but I am not used to perform that very task for which they claim to need me, then why am I really here?" His grammar was impeccable, and he had a way of twisting words to suit his exact needs. But his careful fanciness was wasted on me.

"Maybe they have a surprise. Like keeping you alive instead of your people killing you or jailing you?"

He pondered this as he gazed out the tall windows over the NYC skyline. True, I had never really met the god before but I'd heard enough about him to know that I was in danger where I sat. But for some reason, the warnings I'd been told didn't apply to the unassuming, lazy being sitting across from me. He more resembled a sunbathing lizard than an intergalactic murderer.

When I had finished my drink, my phone buzzed and I drew it from my pocket. A text from Commander Hill appeared, and I opened it.

'Keep an eye on Loki. Don't let him out of your sight. Think of it as a cross between babysitting and a stakeout.'

I quickly texted back, 'Baby's doing fine. Got himself a drink and is happy to be sat.'

'No playing around Agent Valentine.'

'Aye aye captain'

I knew she'd be angry but I didn't care. She couldn't exactly punish me anyway; Tony and Aunt Pepper made sure of that.

I sighed and pushed my chair back from the table, heading to the sink. Erg, why make two trips? I turned and reached out a hand to snag Loki's glass off the table as well.

Before I could grab it, Loki's hand darted out, and his fingers latched tightly around my wrist. Without thinking, I reacted. I planted my heel in his abdomen and drove the breath from his lungs before wrenching my hand away and snatching the glass.

As he gulped air, I set our dishes in the sink and perched on the counter again. He regained his breath and met my eyes across the room.

When I was in middle school, I once babysat a family of eight under the age of twelve. And yet, this would be the most difficult babysitting job I'd ever taken.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke the next morning with a sense of impending dread but couldn't remember why. As I gathered my clothes and headed for the shower, my memory of the previous day shook off its morning fuzziness, and I remembered. I was part of the Loki Babysitters Club.

You would think a young agent who only earned her badge in January would be given an assignment on the ground, cleaning up the city; and the more experienced agents would be told to guard one of the most dangerous beings to walk the earth in my life time.

But nooooooo. I had to babysit a grumpy demigod.

By the time I'd finished my shower, changed, and made it to the stairs, I wondered where Loki even was. Was he awake? Was someone else guarding him until I was there? I knew that he'd been given his own room in Stark Tower, and just last night his handcuffs had been replaced with wristbands designed to electrocute him if he tried anything questionable. Kind of like a dog collar but with the power of a taser. Quite the beautiful piece of technology- created by Tony of course.

I checked the bar, kitchen, and roof and found no sign of Loki, so I took the stairs back to the hallway leading to the different bedrooms and guest suites. Even though I had been assigned to keep an eye on Loki, no one had told me where he would be kept or what to do if I got into any trouble. Nothing had been said to me except that he was my responsibility. SHIELD, like any other branch of government and any other hierarchical bureaucracy, did a terrible job of communicating useful and accurate information.

By listening at each door, I found Loki's room when I heard him humming a familiar Wagner piece. He was an odd creature, but so were most of the residents of this building. Since I was going to be stuck with him for the unforeseeable future, and because I was already bored and barely awake, I decided to have a little fun. As I listened at the door still, I heard him close the bathroom door and start the shower. This was my chance. 

I silently slipped into the room and took a look around. His clothes were rumpled on the floor, the sheets and blankets were turned down on the bed, and everything of the lazy atmosphere of the room spoke of him having just woken up. Although the room was small and likely the most uncomfortable of the Stark Tower living spaces, the room was by no means a prison. It was, however, kind of a mess. 

I would do little things and see if he noticed any difference. Quietly, I pulled the sheets up and made the bed before setting the pillows on top of the neatened blankets. His helmet and heavy leather overcoat and attached cape sat in a pile on the floor so I draped the coat and cape over the desk chair and set the helmet on my head. He wouldn't care, right? What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him...or me. The helmet was surprisingly light, but it was too large for me and slid around as I moved about the room. The extravagant, curving horns outweighed the actual protective part of the helmet and I had to catch it more than once when it threatened to spill to the floor.

Once I'd opened the curtains and generally tidied the room, I heard the water shut off and footsteps in the bathroom. With a start, I set the helmet on the dresser and sat on the desk, swinging my legs.

Loki stepped out, hair dripping water onto his bare shoulders. The drops slid down his pale chest and back in rivulets before being soaked into the fabric of his pants. I found not staring a little too difficult. When he saw me, he stopped and his eyes widened. "How long have you been there?" he asked.

"A while," I replied, shrugging.

"How did you get in?"

"You left the door unlocked."

"And you deemed it fit to waltz into the room of a god?" he hissed.

I shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Pathetic mortal," he muttered, crossing to where he'd left his pile of clothes. Seeing the spot empty, he pivoted toward me and rose to his full height. As if that was supposed to intimidate me or something. "What have you been doing?" he growled.

"Cleaning," I answered simply.

He pulled on a shirt and regained the stiff composure I had grown accustomed to seeing from him. His hair still dripped onto his shoulders, but this time, my eyes couldn't follow it down his skin. 

"Why are you here?" he demanded.

"I'm supposed to keep an eye on you, aren't I?"

He scowled and began to turn away before his eyes landed on his helmet. With two fingers, he pulled a long, wavy blonde hair off the gold headpiece and held it at eye level between us.

"I don't believe this is mine," he said, letting it fall into my lap.

"Hm, nope, must be mine."

"How dare you handle my belongings, mortal," he growled.

I slid off the desk and stood just outside of the reach of his arms. "Ya know, you call us mortal as if it's an insult, yet I'd rather die than live forever until I died in battle. Doesn't it get a little boring? Ever find yourself in a rut for thousands of years? Maybe that's why you trashed New York. For a change of pace. Stabbing your brother and giving birth to monster babies must get boring after a few centuries."

He huffed and left the room. I let him have the small satisfaction of slamming the door before following him out.


	3. Chapter 3

Late afternoon rolled around, and I'd been bored out of my mind all day. I'd done nothing but scroll Pinterest, read bad Buzzfeed articles, and try to ignore the dirty looks Loki threw at me. Rolling my shoulders, I slid off the counter and strolled to Loki's side where he stood by the window. He had been standing there all day, feet set apart, hands clasped behind his back, staring down at the clean-up crews in the city streets. Agents of all ages and experience levels wielded brooms to sweep rubble into wheelbarrows and bins. The sun beat down and made the pavement shimmer like a mirage. As I approached, he remained as still as he had been for hours.

"All set, big guy?" I asked. "I'm thinking of heading downstairs."

At first, he didn't answer before slowly turning to meet my impatient gaze. I realized for the first time just how green his eyes were. Bold and clear like the poison labels on Dr. Banner's chemical bottles. Eerie and intoxicating like that bottle of absinthe that had been sitting in the bar for a few years now. Hypnotizing and cryptic like..... Whoa. Hold up. What was I thinking? Focus, Allie. 

"I thought you were supposed to be carrying out an unwavering vigil?"

"Yeah, but you're boring. I've babysat toddlers more mischievous than you. I mean honestly, how much damage can you do chained like a dog?"

His already perfect posture stiffened and he seemed to tower over me. When he spoke, his voice deepened. "You imply that I am no threat? Unchain me and I'll show you the mischief I can cause."

Part of me wanted to try it for kicks, but I told that part of me to shut up. "Mm, better not. I don't feel like cleaning up a mess today. And if I let you cause any trouble, the Hulk is going to squish you. I'd rather not mop your arrogant face off Tony's floor."

He seemed flabbergasted that I had the nerve to withstand his silky speech, but fancy words were nothing new to me. Growing up at the bottom of SHIELD's hierarchy, I'd heard my fair share of high-falutin threats, promises, demands, and statements. Also, I'm a teenager- disrespecting authority is kind of in the job description.

At the door to the stairs, I turned. "Are you coming on your own? Or do I have to shock you like a zoo animal? Don't make me have to do this." I held up the little trigger Tony had given me for if Loki ever got out of hand. I knew it wouldn't do that much, but at least he would know I was serious. Before I had to use the trigger, Loki left his watch at the window and trudged after me down the stairs. God, he looked like the angriest puppy.

I led the way to the training room and he perked up at the sight of padded floors, punching bags, pull up bars, gymnastics rings, climbing walls, targets for all kinds of shooting, and sparring rings. "Stay." I told him before disappearing into the bathroom to change. When I returned, he had found a comfy seat on one of the benches and was leaning his elbows on his knees. It was the most relaxed I had ever seen him. While I filled my water bottle and stretched, his eyes followed me around the room. I tried to ignore him, but when I bent over to pull my hair up, I couldn't help but notice his smirk.

"What's made you so happy all of a sudden?" I asked, straightening again.

"Nothing," he purred.

"Uh huh, sure," I retorted, wrapping tape around my hands. I began my workout, feeling more than a mite self-conscious as he looked on.

I jabbed, kicked, swung, and beat at the punching bag. The pounding in my hands and legs helped pound thoughts out of my head, until Loki interrupted my careful rhythm. "Your opponent will not be hindered by those weak kicks to his hips. If you want to hurt him, aim higher."

"I can't," I answered, blowing a piece of damp hair out of my face and resuming my stance.

Before I could land a hit, he spoke again. "Why not?"

Exasperated, I dropped my hands and faced him. "I tore my hamstring. It doesn't work like it used to." I hoped that would suffice and landed a few quick hits on the bag before Loki interrupted yet again.

"Explain," he persisted.

"It never healed properly." I focused on the bag and answered his pestering replies between hits.

"How?"

"I don't know. I didn't do well in biology, okay? Someone cut me, and it didn't heal right."

"Have you tried fixing it?" His tone was slightly mocking.

"Of course."

He raised a single, inky eyebrow in question.

"Doc didn't know what else to do. I've gone through the physical therapy. At this point, I've just accepted it and work around it." The more he interrogated me, the harder my hits landed on the bag.

"Why?"

I caught the punching bag and spun to face him. I snapped, "You might not cause as much trouble as a toddler but you sure ask more questions than one!"

"I would not have to ask if you supplied adequate answers."

"What else could you possibly want to know? I was on a mission, someone sneaked up on me and sliced the back of my leg, and I failed to accomplish what I was supposed to do. Happy now? Can I finish without you being annoying?"

His thin mouth curled into a sly smile and he spread his fingers with his palms held up to me. "Your pardon. I'm not even here." He sat back as if he were disengaging himself from the room, but his gaze told me he was as intent as ever.

I hesitated a moment before tightening my ponytail and getting back to work. By the time I was finished, I was sticky and shaking, but I felt better than I had that morning. I wasn't even so bothered by Loki's existence anymore.

His low purring words brought my attention back to him. Except now, instead of sitting quietly on the bench, he was standing. He extended a hand toward me, palm up. "I could heal it for you."

I felt like I'd walked into a street sign. He was offering to heal me? Why? What did it benefit him? "What's in it for you?"

"You don't believe I could be acting out of the goodness of my heart." He placed his open hand over his chest and inclined his head toward me in a slight, mocking bow.

"From what I've been told, I'm not entirely sure there's any goodness in your heart. I'll say yes, but I should remind you, you're wearing a shock collar with enough voltage to knock the Hulk into a daze. Make it quick."

He straightened and extended his hand toward me again. "Where?"

Heat began rising to my face as I guided his hand to the back of my thigh where a white scar slashed diagonally downward from the inside. His palm and fingers were cold and dry and raised goosebumps on my skin. He muttered some kind of incantation under his breath, and with a tingling sensation, the magic began to work. As the muscle repaired itself, a fiery pain spread across my leg and I shifted my weight to prevent the injured leg from buckling. I could almost feel the damaged muscle fibers unwinding, organizing themselves, and fusing back together.

At last, the pain subsided and Loki removed his hand. I took a few steps and stretched to test the leg. Already there was a difference. It didn't twinge when I walked, and it wasn't tight or achy. For a few years, I'd been reminded of my failure every time I moved. Now, only the scar remained. I gave the punching bag a few hard kicks before I was satisfied that the muscle was completely healed. It would take some exercising to return to full strength, but at least now that was a possibility.

"Thank you," I told Loki sincerely. He dipped his head in a small nod before returning to his place on the bench. With a last look at him over my shoulder, I headed to the bathroom for a shower and to change.


	4. Chapter 4

The week passed with each day more boring than the last. I fell easily into a rut. Wake up, wait for Loki, spend the day reading or training while Loki stared out the windows or corrected my fighting style, shower, bother the god, sleep, repeat. When the weekend finally arrived, I was itching to get out of the tower and go for an adventure. I had been texting my school friends all day to make plans, and finally, one came through with tickets to a show across the city. Yeah, sure, I was supposed to never let Loki out of my sight until senior agents were in the tower, but Aunt Pepper and Tony would be home soon, and it wasn't like Loki could do much anyway. I could give Jarvis access to the trigger and ask Jarvis to babysit for me instead. 

Glancing at Loki over my phone, I made up my mind. He hadn't budged from his position at the windows since we had come upstairs after my workout, and he hadn't spoken a single word yet today. I doubted he was going to be making trouble in the next half hour before Tony and Pepper returned. I could slip out to that show and no one would be the wiser until I got back, and by then, it would be too late. 

I needed air, I needed some room to run and be free. I needed to be able to move about without this ball and chain of a being that followed me everywhere like a sad puppy. 

"Hey, Rudolph," I called out to him. He didn't acknowledge me until I slid off the counter and approached his side. "I'm going up to my room, but you can stay here, okay? I'm only going to be a few minutes. No worries, I'm not going to shock you while I'm gone." I raced up the stairs to my room and quickly changed into a breezy dress with a high slit and some city-appropriate sandals. After grabbing my bag, I returned to the bar and grabbed a bottle of water. Loki had turned his head to watch me as I crossed the room, and I could feel his eyes moving up and down my body. "Enjoying the view?" I teased. 

Loki rolled his eyes and gazed out the windows again. Below, the city lights were switching on and the sky was growing dark. Time for me to leave. "See you later," I tossed over my shoulder. "Tony and Pepper will be back soon, and Jarvis can access this trigger to shock you if you try anything sneaky." Just as I reached the hallway, Tony entered the room and I stumbled back a few steps.

"Allison Elizabeth Valentine, where do you think you're going?" Aunt Pepper's voice made me cringe. 

Slowly, I tried to inch toward the door again with as much of a nonchalant air as I could manage. "Out," I replied, cooly. 

"I believe you have a job to do," Tony said. 

"Please. Elaborate."

He jerked his thumb toward a sullen Loki still watching out the windows.

I huffed. "I don't know why he's so dangerous, it's not like he does anything. All he does is stand there and sulk all day. He doesn't need a babysitter."

"No, he doesn't need babysitting, but he does need constant supervision," argued Aunt Pepper. She was so unlike Mom that sometimes I forgot they were sisters. When Mom was home from missions, she often went out to shows and parties with me and we shirked duties together. Aunt Pepper was always the more level-headed of the two.

"But you two are here now," I protested. "You can be his supervision."

Tony shook his head. "We have to leave again in a few minutes. Fury is calling a meeting and he wants everyone Level 6 and higher."

"What? Why? That's everyone in this tower except me. How can Fury do that? He's telling me to babysit what you and the others think is one of the most dangerous breathing things to walk this planet, and yet he refuses to promote me beyond Level 3. That's ridiculous."

"We don't call the shots," Pepper said, "not when it comes to SHIELD."

I felt my phone buzz and knew that would be my friend waiting for me. "We really can't leave him for one night? Just a couple hours. Jarvis can shock him if he tries anything. And he won't try anything. This whole week, he's done nothing but stare out the window." I couldn't live holed up in this tower. I needed my freedom. 

Tony said, "He doesn't try anything because you're here to report it if he does. If he were to be left alone, he'd cause mayhem." Pepper sipped from the drink Tony handed her. "He's the god of tricks and lies and mischief, Allie. You can't trust him. Not even for a few hours. Just because he hasn't tried anything yet doesn't mean he won't try something in the future."

"Whatever," I spat. "Forget it. Go to the meeting. I'll be here, slowly dying of boredom." Crossing my arms, I sank onto a bar stool. "Give the Director my regards, and tell him he can take his Levels and shove them-"

"Hey!" Aunt Pepper placed her glass in the sink and held up a finger at me. "If you finish that sentence, you're grounded."

Once Tony and my aunt had left the room and I was alone again with the lousy god of do-nothingness, I stewed in my frustration. Just the sight of his back, feet spread apart, hands clasped behind his back, made me angry. In that moment, I wanted to make him feel the same boiling rage and resentment I felt for him. I rounded on him. I got to my feet and threw curses at him, but they bounced off as if I had thrown handfuls of popcorn. Infuriated further, I balled my fists and reached for the nearest projectile, a book someone had left on the counter. Books weren't the most aerodynamic choice, but I aimed and chucked it with surprising accuracy. The binding clipped him in the ear hard enough to knock him off balance.

"You asshole, you traitor, you useless waste of oxygen!" I felt like my chest was burning from the inside out. The injustice of my circumstances and position made me want to march to Fury's office myself and give him an earful, but Loki would have to suffice. "You're the reason. You. If I weren't assigned to your Asgardian ass, I wouldn't be in this mess. I could be earning my next Level or out with friends instead of holed up in this hell. If I have to go through one more day of this lousy routine of watching you stare out the window and feeling my brains melt into mush, I'll personally throw you off the top of this tower." Now that the first burst of anger was out of my system, I resigned myself to simmering as I paced back and forth in front of the bar stools. 

He stood just as he had earlier, but now with those cold green eyes trained on me. As I paced, his head followed me, and I noticed that the ear the book had hit was bleeding. Guilt panged me, and I knew I should apologize, but I wasn't done being angry. But who could I possibly be angry at except Fury? Not Loki. He had no more chosen me as his babysitter as I had chosen him as my assignment. The guilt grew inside my chest, pushing the rage to my muscles and limbs. Before I knew where I was going, I was leaving the bar.

As I stormed up the stairs, I was aware of light, slow footsteps following me. What could he possibly want? I told him I wouldn't shock him tonight. Trying to ignore the god, I locked the door to my room and changed back into my clothes from earlier. So much for going out. 

When I yanked the door open again, I ran smack into the god's chest and bounced back a step. Without even a glance at his face, I shoved him aside as if doing so would also shove aside the renewed guilt. I found my way to the main living room and sank onto the couch. Doc often left medical books or science books lying out, but today, he'd left his old copy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the lampstand. I breezed through the first few pages without soaking in a word. I couldn't focus on anything. I wanted my freedom, and yet I was stuck in this cage, left to wander aimlessly like some character from the Twilight Zone until I had to go back to school in the fall. Sighing, I closed the book and started climbing the stairs towards the roof. Maybe I just needed air to clear my head.

I emerged on the roof and took a deep breath of the humid summer air. Far, far below, the city carried on at its usual relentless pace, but up here, I could think and relax without interruption. Few people ever came onto the roof, so it became my hiding place. When I needed to disappear, I always went to the roof, and for whatever reason, it was the one place where Aunt Pepper and the others respected my privacy. I laid back and watched the city lights twinkle in the heavy air like neon fireflies in a forest of skyscrapers.

After an hour, Loki found me. He approached cautiously, probably to make sure I didn't have anything I could throw at him. Now that I felt calm, I didn't snap or curse at him again. Instead, I waited for him to sit beside me. He sank down to a crosslegged position and stared out over the sea of lights. "Why do you keep following me?" I asked. My anger had exhausted me, and without the same venom in my voice as earlier, I only sounded tired.

At first, he didn't reply. "I've come to ask your aid," he said at length. His voice was as quiet as my own, and he too sounded tired.

"What?" I pushed up to my elbows to see his face clearer and realized that something was bothering him. Even the god of lies and tricks couldn't hide everything behind a mask.

"I require your help."

"With what?" I sat up fully and stretched my back.

He seemed to agonize over his answer before it left his mouth. "I'm hungry."

Immediately, I felt sorry. In the mindlessness of the past few days, I had never actually fed him, only offered food and assumed he would help himself. I'd never paid enough attention to make sure he had eaten something. Combined with the guilt I felt earlier, the last traces of frustration vanished. "C'mon," I said, getting to my feet and waiting for him to follow. "I'll make you something."

Loki walked with me to the kitchen. It was well after 10pm, so the kitchen and most of the surrounding floors were empty. "Grilled cheese is okay?" I asked as he sat on a bar stool. He didn't respond. "Grilled cheese it is then." He watched me heat the pan and prepare our food. I cooked in silence, only the sizzle of the bread making noise between us. As soon as I slid his sandwich onto a plate and handed it to him, he tucked into it. I took the time to cut my own before taking a seat across from him. "Hey, I uh, I'm sorry," I began, "for earlier. You didn't choose to get stuck with me, and I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry too for throwing that book at you. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just..." He never looked up from his sandwich while I spoke, so I wasn't sure if he was hearing me or not. My eyes searched his face for an answer, but all I could see was the blood dried on his ear. 

Getting up, I searched the cabinets for a few minutes before I found one of the first aid kits Dr. Banner and Aunt Pepper kept in every room. In case of Avengers-style emergencies. I brought it back and took the seat beside him. "Hold still a moment." He chewed as he watched me soak a cottonball in peroxide. When I raised it to his ear, his hand flew up and his fingers latched around my wrist. Unlike our first meeting, this time, his hold was less like a vice and more like the sleeve of a shrunken sweater- softer and not intended to cause pain.

"Do not touch me." His voice wasn't quite a growl, but it still carried an underlying threat.

I didn't pull my hand away and he didn't let go. "Let me help. I feel bad for hurting you, and I know you can do the healing magicky things, but at least let me clean it. Blood is unsanitary and Aunt Pepper will kill you if you get blood on her furniture."

After a long hesitation, he released my wrist and returned to eating. Cautiously, I cleaned his ear. He made no other attempt to stop me. When I finished, I put the first aid kit away and returned to the seat beside Loki. He had finished eating, and now stared at the counter with his hands on either side of his plate. Unlike other times he'd sat at the counter, his hands weren't balled into fists or spread flat on the surface, but relaxed. I noticed his mouth moving without sound before he spoke. "May I...have another?"

"Yeah." I smiled and pushed my untouched sandwich toward him. "Go ahead. I don't want it." He looked at me a moment before accepting the grilled cheese and digging in.


	5. Chapter 5

The next few days, I woke up earlier and earlier to try to have a few hours without Loki. When he woke up, the monitor connected to the trigger would alert me, but sometimes I didn't feel the vibration or hear the beep, like missing a notification from my phone. I tiptoed down the hallway and listened carefully at his door. Heavy, rhythmic breathing greeted my ears. It paused as the god rolled over, then continued. Still sound asleep.

I headed to the kitchen as my stomach began grumbling, and got out my ingredients. I wasn't the best cook, but my food was edible and didn't taste like paper, and that was good enough for me. I had also made it a point since the grilled cheese night to make sure that Loki ate at least three meals a day. While I got a cast iron pan heating, I beat some eggs and cut veggies. After the pan was ready, I started melting butter.

Just as I was tossing some veggies into the pan, footsteps approached and I recognized the familiar scent of lab soap and the guest room air freshener. "Good morning, Allie," Dr. Banner greeted.

I returned his warm smile. "Hi Doc! I thought Tony said you were going to a conference for the week. What are you doing here?" I stirred the veggies before putting the wooden spoon down to give him a hug.

He laughed and hugged me before opening a cupboard for plates. "The conference was canceled after too many key speakers backed out. Some countries didn't feel that it was safe enough to send their best scientists to New York just yet. Also, Tony said you were getting lonely and thought I could help. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not!" When I noticed he had only brought out two plates, I said, "You're missing one."

"What's that?"

"We need three plates." I turned back to the pan and poured in the eggs.

He looked confused and his brown eyes squinted slightly in thought.

"Loki," I reminded him. "I'm still on the babysitting assignment. He eats meals with me." I turned the first omelette onto the top plate and set it aside to start the next one.

Immediately, his expression became one of wariness and fatherly caution. "Allie, you can't be friendly with him. He's a liar, a thief, a monster. He malevolently destroyed New York. He murdered hundreds of people as if their lives didn't matter. He wants to enslave the human race. He's a heartless creature without any kind of feelings of remorse or guilt."

With a chill of certainty, I felt Loki's eyes on us, and sure enough, he stood in the doorway. He'd heard everything Dr. Banner had said. Loki avoided my eyes, and I stiffly scooped the second finished omelette onto the next plate. 

On silent footsteps, Loki approached us but stopped short, eyeing Banner. "Don't worry, the other guy isn't angry....yet," he warned. He turned his back to pour himself some coffee, but I noticed that Loki still gave the doctor a wide radius.

After turning out the third omelette, I gave each plate a fork and held one plate out towards Loki. "It's not poisoned," I told him when he hesitated. His eyes strayed past me to Dr. Banner again, and I put the plate down. "Suit yourself, but I'm starved." I poured myself a cup of coffee before taking a seat at the stools. 

Loki got down a mug for himself and filled it with tapwater before reaching for his plate. Just then, Dr. Banner joined him. Loki backed away so fast that he bumped into the hot cast iron pan. He didn't make a sound himself, but I heard the singe of flesh against the metal.

I jumped to my feet and swore. Ignoring the scolding glare from Bruce, I dashed around the counter and used a potholder to put the pan in the sink and run cold water in it. When I stood beside the men, Loki seemed grateful to have a buffer between himself and Banner. After a tense thirty seconds of staring each other down, Dr. Banner returned to his seat, and Loki went the opposite way around the counter to sit as far from Doc as possible.

After making sure everything at the counter was cleared and there would be no more burns, I rummaged in the freezer for an ice pack. "Sorry," I mumbled, handing it to Loki. He already had his hand laid over the burn, muttering an incantation. As I watched, the skin stopped blistering, the redness faded, and he fully healed himself. "Right. Magic." I tossed the ice pack into the freezer and took a seat so I could finally eat my breakfast.

I'd finished half my breakfast before Dr. Banner picked up his mug of coffee for a refill. When he turned around, he got my attention with a wave of his hand. "Allie, if you would." Nodding, I stood and followed him out of the room, my own coffee in hand.

Once we were out of hearing range of the kitchen, he stopped me. "What just happened?"

"You scared him and he burned himself on the hot pan."

He shook his head and glanced over his shoulder. "You can't be like this with him, Allie. He's a killer. He won't hesitate to stab you through the heart at the first chance he gets. He's ruthless and conniving and not one of his intentions is for your well-being. He's a plotter and a murderer. His sordid mind thinks of how to kill you the way you fear most when you least expect it. Listen to me, Allie. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be doing this anymore. I'll ask Hill to remove you from this assignment and have your name put on the cycle of clean up crews."

"I'm okay, Doc. He hasn't tried to hurt me. Most of the time, he doesn't even talk. Besides, there's a difference between being friendly and being polite."

"The line between polite and friendly is thin. Don't cross it." He placed a warm hand on my shoulder. "I know you want to see the good in him, but you might have to accept that there is no good in him."

I didn't believe him, but I wasn't going to argue. "Okay. Now can we eat? I'm starving."

He chuckled and a smile broke over his worried face. "Yeah, yes, that sounds good."

I took up my seat between the men and finished my meal. Dr. Banner got called away to the lab, and Loki helped me wash the dishes when he was done.


	6. Chapter 6

"At last!" I slipped my arms into my jacket sleeves as I jogged down the stairs. 

"Ready?" Dr. Banner asked when he saw me.

I nodded. "Yeah. Where'd Loki go?"

He turned and looked around the open space of the lab. "Probably sulking somewhere. We'll find him before we leave." He checked everything one last time before flicking off the lights and locking the sliding doors.

"So what does Fury want to discuss?" I followed him out of the lab and toward the exit.

He shrugged as he held the door for me. "I'm not sure, but it can't be good if he wants all three of us."

"Maybe he's sending Loki back to Asgard." Three weeks ago, I would have been ecstatic to receive news that Loki would be leaving New York. Now, I didn't feel the same amount of excitement I had thought I would. 

Banner shook his head. "I don't think so. Fury said he wanted Loki for a reason and nothing's been done with him. Fury never would have taken him without a real purpose."

I shrugged and spotted the god himself crossing the hallway and rubbing his wrist. The 'dog-collar' bracelet was still there and still blinking. He'd been studying it all afternoon and had tried performing several spells, but it hadn't been harmed. Tony's design was almost magic-proof, but whenever he tried something too strong, I just gave him a zap. It hadn't been fun. It wasn't like swinging an electric bug zapper and hearing a satisfying BZZ every time I hit one. It was more like using shocks to train a rat in psychology experiments. It wasn't enough to really hurt him, but it was enough to let him know we were serious about no funny business. 

While in the tower, he had settled to leave his cape and leather overcoat in his room and had gotten comfortable in the breeches and tunic that went under the armor. For the meeting with the director, he had donned his whole elaborate garb minus the helmet. Ego, I thought, motioning for him to hurry up.

He strolled like he was the Queen of England, taking his sweet time and ignoring my impatient gestures. He stood by my side and pretended that Banner wasn't a few feet away. The powerful god of tricks and mischief was afraid of Dr. Banner- or, more accurately, he was afraid of the Hulk. I smiled at the thought and followed Banner to the helicopter that was landing. I climbed inside and buckled into a seat. Dr. Banner buckled in beside me. Loki didn't make a move to join us.

"C'mon, it doesn't bite," I told him. 

Reluctantly, and with loathing in his face, he took the seat across from me and sat as stiff as the Ironman suit. The ride was short but turbulent, and by the end, I felt sick. We hadn't gone far, just outside the city to a base more suited to training agents and acting as a small safety operation complete with runway and landing pad. My stomach did a backflip as we touched down and I was all too eager to set foot on solid ground again.

"Allison. Good to see you," a familiar voice greeted. Captain Rogers stood at the entrance, ready to welcome us inside. He had his hands braced on his belt buckle in his usual relaxed stance, but the inward tilt of his eyebrows said he was ready for a fight if Loki started causing any trouble.

"I'm fine, Steve," I replied as he pushed a door open for me. "Thanks."

He shot me a partial smile that faded when he saw Loki. "He hasn't been bothering you has he?"

I linked my arm through his and watched his rigid posture melt. "Leave him be. I've given him twice as much grief as he's given me." 

Steve chuckled and said, "I can believe that."

Dr. Banenr caught up to us and led the way to Fury's temporary office. We were summoned inside and Fury stood to greet us before walking to the front of his desk and eyeing Loki.

"Agent Valentine, you may leave," he dismissed me.

My mouth fell open. "Wh- what?" I couldn't believe he was doing this. "I have every right to hear this. I'm the one who's been babysitting him for the past three weeks. You can't just bring me here and then tell me to stand outside while you all discuss this."

"That's exactly what I expect you to do," he told me.

I clenched my jaw and tried to control myself. "Director-"

He held up a hand to stop me. "I'll have Dr. Banner brief you afterward, but for now, I need you to leave."

I hesitated to see if any other orders were forthcoming before leaving the office. What was going on? What was Fury thinking? I'd been with Loki for the majority of every day since he'd been taken into SHIELD's custody. I knew best what he'd been up to. Why didn't Fury trust me? Oh, he trusted me to babysit an intergalactic criminal and murderer, but he didn't trust me to sit through a meeting about my own assignment? I paced the hallway for half an hour before kicking at the empty air and sitting against the sound proofed door. Of course I'd be briefed afterwards. And I'd only be told what I absolutely had to know, which in Fury's imagination, was never very much. And it was certainly never enough to satisfy my curiosity. 

After an hour, the door opened and Dr. Banner and Steve led Loki out of the office. Fury didn't say a word. In fact, no one spoke. As we walked, I bumped into Steve and got his attention. 

'I'm sorry,' he mouthed. 

Sorry about what?


End file.
